We arrived in the port city of Mangalore shortly after sunrise. "Picturesque" would not be an apt description of the harbor. It was a functional port for an industrial city. A true collector's item would be a "Welcome to scenic Mangalore" sign.
After an in-person appearance in front of Indian immigration officials, we were off the ship and onto a bus for a twenty miles drive to our first destination on a tour to see two holy sites of Jainism, an ancient religion. I will not even try to summarize the tenets of this faith here, instead referring those who want more information to research it online.
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| At this toll booth construction site we passed, there was a human conveyer belt of women carrying baskets of material on their heads. |
We saw numerous colorful arches denoting access to temples.
We arrived at Gomdeswara Temple on Indragiri Hill. The temple contained a monolithic stone statue of Lord Gomateshwara, a revered site for the Jains religion. Instead of a welcoming arch, there was an intimidating 212-step staircase. It was not the steps themselves that were intimidating, it was climbing them in 90+ degree accompanied by brutally high humidity.
The temple on the next hill provided an irresistible photo opportunity part way into our ascent, or at least a good excuse to take a break.
What a surprise, the site was undergoing restoration/preservation. Actually, I am being sarcastic. After many trips to many places, Pam & I have pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that a high percentage of what we go to see will be shrouded in scaffolding. We have a working theory that someone travels ahead of us arranging for its erection.
Although absolutely nothing to do with Gondeshwar Temple, Lord Gomateshwara or Janism, I was interested in the scaffolding. It was made of bamboo held together with what appeared to be lengths of hemp rope that had been soaked in water. The hemp was tightly wrapped around two or more pieces of bamboo. Presumably, when the hemp dried it tightened further.
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| bag of hemp(?) rope |
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| jug of water carried on her head from wherever she filled it |
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| cinching it tight |
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| up goes the scaffolding |
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| welcome to the temple - dot on the forehead and dollar in the pan |
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| Hey fella, that's not the lotus position! |
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| Raffle ticket? Fresh-squeezed sugar cane syrup? |
Our next stop was Soans Farm where, similar to an arboretum, it displayed a variety of plants from around the world but with an emphasis on those that could be grown commercially. The farm harvested and sold seeds and cuttings to local farmers. There were some ornamentals for show.
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| Some refreshment out of capped but dissimilar bottles - oh well, no ill effects. |
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| I do not know if this has great mystic symbolism or is just a random design drawn to screw with our heads. |
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| "Holding coconut in one hand and razor sharp machete in the other, swing downward with machete point to open coconut." Not instructions you would be likely to see in an OSHA-approved manual. |
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| flower on a cannonball tree |
Our third and last stop of the tour was to see the Jains thousand pillar temple - Tribhuvana Tilaka Chudamani Basadi in Moodbidri. The bus had to park some distance from the temple, causing us to provide a momentary distraction for some students at a school we walked past.
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| no shoes allowed - dirty socks on hot stone better than bare feet |
We drove back to the port on a secondary road that gave us glimpses into the lives of the locals.
We found our tour interesting, albeit far from a highlight of our trip. We talked with fellow passengers who toured the city of Mangalore. Pam & I concluded that we did not miss much. Bottom line - I do not ever anticipate saying the words, "I would like to go back to Mangalore."
As the ship backed away from the pier, we watched the ship next to us unloading what appeared to be salt. Like my digression into bamboo scaffolding, I am just sticking this in here because it was (literally as we moved by it) of passing interest.
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